Rosie's adventures in knitting (and life)!

May 2008

May 28, 2008

I just finished a PIF gift that I don't want to show you just yet, because it hasn't been given to the recipient yet. In the meantime, I started a new long-term knitting project. It's my first shawl, Jeanie, using the sock yarn I received from the Valentine's Day swap and it features reversible cables and lots of dropped stitches. It is really fun to knit, and I really like watching the cables grow together....BUT, it is going to take forever because I constantly have to look at charts. I didn't prepare any other knitting projects during this short interim time that I am staying with Justin, so I will diligently work on this before I can start a new project as a distraction.

May 23, 2008

My socks from my Sock Wars assassin arrived yesterday, so I am dead! These socks are very cozy. I love the subtle colors and the striping pattern. They are also made of nylon and acrylic, so I can wash and dry them like I do anything else!

I'm really glad that I got to finish the socks I was making for my target, but I'm also kind of glad that I got my socks so I don't have to knit anymore pairs. I feel like that sounds mean. I will gladly sign up for Sock Wars again next year!

May 20, 2008

"Don't you know,
'bout your finger tips away
Is a universe of atoms
That thinks you're real something
Don't you know,
Just a couple of lips away
Is an evolutionary Bean Feast
who's insides are jumping"

May 19, 2008

It took me about a week, but I finished my Detonator socks for Sock Wars. This morning I shipped them out to my victim. I'm glad I survived long enough to finish the pair. My assassin in still alive so it's only a matter of time for me.

I mentioned in a previous post that my victim allowed me to use a different yarn to finish up the second sock. I really liked how it turned out. The foot does look "bloody" and this is a way to make these socks unique to the Sock Wars contest. This is a really fun contest, and I think I'll participate again next year! I wonder how many pairs of socks I will survive for...

I read her blog, so I did what I was supposed to do and showed up with my sock. I worked on it a bit while I was waiting for her to come out. It looked like there was a smaller turn out than the other stops on her tour. I kind of felt weird about going to this alone at first, but I did notice that a lot of knitters were there alone and it was easy to talk to the people around me.

I put down my knitting when Stephanie came out to listen to her talk. I thought her talk was wonderful! I love her sense of humor, and she really made me feel like I am part of an important and special group of people by being a knitter. She also made me feel like I am really doing something meaningful and healthy when I am knitting, and not simple and mindless. I really encourage anyone to go listen to her speak, even non-knitters would find it enjoyable and interesting.

After the talk there was a book signing. I bought a copy of her book from one of the vendors and got in line. I was really excited to get my picture taken with Stephanie and The Sock.

Another cool thing happened today while I was waiting in line to get my book signed. I started talking to two cool knitters in line, Jackie (right) and Tanya (left). We talked a bit about Ravelry and we were all knitting socks using Magic Loop. We ended up eating an awesome brunch at Sabrina's. Tanya works at a yarn store in Maryland called Vulcan's Rest Fibers, and I hope to make it down there sometime during this summer! It was really cool to meet these two today.

I wanted to walk around all of the booths at the Book Festival, but it poured for most of the afternoon and after lunch all of the booths were empty by the time I walked back over to the library. I really want to attend the festival next year and maybe go to more of the talks and hopefully get to browse the booths a bit more.

I had such a great day, and I can wait to meet more knitters in the area!

May 16, 2008

Sock Wars III started about a week ago. Since the kick off date was almost the same date as my move, I am a little behind. I'm not dead yet, though! There are about 2000 participants and about 100 people dead already! These are my Detonator Socks in progress. I am not going to have enough yarn to finish that second sock, but I checked with my victim, and she is ok with me using a different color to finish them up (bless her). I picked a "bloody" looking colorway since I "shot myself in the foot" by choosing a yarn that I didn't have enough of. Aren't I clever? I know my assassin has been working on my socks a lot, so I hope I can stay alive long enough to finish these!

May 13, 2008

Throughout all of the craziness during the past couple of weeks I have been knitting. I have a few projects that I am working on right now, and I finished one thing!

I started and finished a pair of Warm Braid Cable Wristwarmers for one of my Pay It Forward angels - Manda, from Knitting Psychos. I mailed them off to her and she received them! I wanted to wait to post about them to keep the surprise. I am working on a gift for my other PIF angel, so you won't see that until it's mailed off and received.

May 12, 2008

This weekend was a very busy one which included Justin flying to Boston, us packing up a 10 foot U-Haul truck (to the brim), driving it from Boston, MA to West Chester, PA, and unloading it into the basement of my apartment building. Since I can't officially move into my apartment until June 1st, I set a few things aside like some clothes, books, and knitting to keep with me at Justin's place.

I did get a bit sad all of a sudden when we were finally ready to drive away from Boston. Even though it was time for me to leave, I still thought about how much fun I had there. Living there with Santina was awesome, and I really got to know myself a whole lot spending most of my time alone in Brighton. I did a lot of growing there. I proved to myself that I can be an "adult" and take care of myself completely in a big city like Boston. I also met a bunch of awesome people and saw a lot of things I wouldn't have seen anywhere else. My time there has also taught me that I can make it anywhere. My decision to take off work and move to PA has taught me that I can do anything that I want to.

This move wouldn't have gone nearly as smoothly as it did if it wasn't for Justin. He did a LOT of the work and helped me out tremendously. I really appreciate everything he's done for me and all of the support he's given. I feel really lucky to have him in my life, and I am looking forward to all of the time we're going to get to spend together now that we aren't hundreds of miles apart.

May 08, 2008

The Forest House by Marion Zimmer Bradley is the prequel to The Mists of Avalon. Long before King Arthur's time, the British Isles were occupied by the native tribes and also the Romans. The native people were Pagans - the holy people were Priestesses and Druids. The Romans worshiped their many Gods. Christianity was just starting to spread to the region region where this story takes place, and Christians were a minority seen as a cult. A love affair between Eilan, a woman who was to become the High Priestess, and Gaius, a Roman soldier of mixed Roman and British heritage sets a series of events in motion that eventually causes Paganism to dissolve or at least lose most of its strength in their region of the isles. A handful of Druids and Priestesses travel away from this region and establish a holy place in the Summer Country, which eventually becomes Avalon. Eilan and Gaius's illegitimate son, Gawan, is destined to be the founder of the Roman/British people who will rule the British Isles in the years to come. This was a great prequel. It explains why the Pagan religion feels like it's already on the decline in the beginning of The Mists of Avalon.

There are three more books in the Avalon series, and now I plan to read all of them!

May 06, 2008

Last weekend, Justin & I took a trip down to Baltimore to visit Santina & Andy and also to attend the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival. We only went to the festival on Saturday, and it was great! I had never been to a festival like this before, so it was a real treat for me. There were a lot of animals there including sheep (of course), a few different kinds of goats, alpacas (pictured above), and sheep dogs. There were tons of little lambs too! I was really surprised to see that you could not only learn how to take care of lambs, but also EAT various forms of LITTLE BABY LAMBS if you were so inclined. There were many vendor booths offering lamb kebabs and pit lamb sandwiches.

I also learned that male sheep have HUGE BALLS, and they are covered in WOOL! Do you think that parts of my sweaters and socks are made from SHEEP BALL WOOL?! I wonder how the texture of the CRAZY LARGE SHEEP BALL WOOL compares to the wool from the other parts of the sheep. I doubt that they actually shear this part, but I hope they do.

Santina and I shopped around a lot while Justin hung out and watched some of the music, and sheep dog demonstrations. There were SO MANY VENDORS. I wanted to buy everything. I went to the festival with a certain amount of money in my wallet, and I'm glad that I didn't spend any more than that, even though I wanted to. I did get some things I had wanted for a while.

I finally bought a drop spindle and some roving to work with. As you can see I've been learning. Santina and I spent a really long time playing with our spindles and trying to learn the process. It is very consuming. I have been practicing with the spindle for the last couple of days and the process is really starting to click.

I got a needle felting kit that makes two small ducks. I've been wanting to learn needle felting for a while, and this kit was only $10!

Santina's birthday was this weekend also, so we went out to eat and hung out a lot, and also played Awkward Scrabble. I think we will be going down there again in July for a concert, so we'll have to have a do-over. This weekend was really fun, and I hope I can make it to the festival again next year!